Trunk Drilling

I have read in one of the bonsai books or magazines that I own, that when you fill a trunk with sand after it's been holed out or been damaged that it helps to heal the wound properly. Is this true?? The trunk to a ficus of mine had been holed out by a friend who drilled through the trunk, and thought that he had killed it. I transplanted it in a special mix that I use occasionally on my tropicals, and leaves started to sprout back again (after they had all fallen off earlier with my friend) just last week. The trunk diameter is about an inch and a half, with the drill hole (which was also rounded out into a pyramidal shape) taking up a good portion of the trunk. My questions are should I fill the wound up with coarse sand, and if so how long should I leave it in for?? Also, how do I go about finding the live veins within a tree?? Just for some reason I've never been able to find out any information on this subject. Thanks for the help.

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